Science news

• Economics Nobel nudges behavioral economist into the limelight

  09-10-2017 23:45
  
  Behavioral economist Richard Thaler started influential investigations of behavioral economics, which earned him the 2017 Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences.
  
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• What soot-covered, hundred-year-old birds can tell us about saving the environment

  09-10-2017 21:50
  Birds in museum collections from Rust Belt cities around the turn of the century are covered with black soot from air pollution at the time. Scientists have compared the amount of soot on birds through the years to track envioronmental pollution over the last 135 years.
  
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• 'Turbo charge' for your brain?

  09-10-2017 21:49
  Two brain regions -- the medial frontal and lateral prefrontal cortices -- control most executive function. Researchers used high-definition transcranial alternating current stimulation (HD-tACS) to synchronize oscillations between them, improving brain processing. De-synchronizing did the opposite.
  
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• Human brain recalls visual features in reverse order than it detects them

  09-10-2017 21:49
  New research has contributed to solving a paradox of perception, literally upending models of how the brain constructs interpretations of the outside world. When observing a scene, the brain first processes details -- spots, lines and simple shapes -- and uses that information to build internal representations of more complex objects, like cars and people. But during recall, the brain remembers those larger concepts first. This could shed light on concepts such as eyewitness testimony to autism.
  
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• Huge energy potential in open ocean wind farms in the North Atlantic

  09-10-2017 21:49
  Because wind speeds are higher on average over ocean than over land, wind turbines in the open ocean could in theory intercept more than five times as much energy as wind turbines over land. This presents an enticing opportunity for generating renewable energy through wind turbines. But it was unknown whether the faster ocean winds could actually be converted to increased amounts of electricity.
  
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• Genetically boosting the nutritional value of corn could benefit millions

  09-10-2017 21:49
  Scientists have found an efficient way to enhance the nutritional value of corn -- the world's largest commodity crop -- by inserting a bacterial gene that causes it to produce a key nutrient called methionine, according to a new study.
  
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• Alzheimer's gene poses both risk and benefits

  09-10-2017 21:48
  Scientists studying the molecular roots of Alzheimer's disease have encountered a good news/bad news scenario. The bad news is that in the early stages of the disease, high-risk TREM2 variants can hobble the immune system's ability to protect the brain from amyloid beta. The good news, according to researchers, is that later in the disease, the absence of TREM2 protein seems to protect the brain from damage.
  
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• Amazon farmers discovered the secret of domesticating wild rice 4,000 years ago

  09-10-2017 21:47
  Amazonian farmers discovered how to manipulate wild rice so the plants could provide more food 4,000 years ago, long before Europeans colonized America, archaeologists have discovered.
  
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• Hunter airlifted to hospital after wounded moose fights back

  09-10-2017 21:31 via cbc.ca
  A Newfoundland man was airlifted to hospital on Saturday after a five-minute battle with a wounded moose.
  
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• How honeybees read the waggle dance

  09-10-2017 19:54
  Neurons that enable honeybees to sense the waggle dance -- a form of symbolic communication used by female bees to inform the hivemates about the location of a food source -- have now been investigated.
  
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• 'The war on coal is over:' Trump administration to terminate Obama's climate plan

  09-10-2017 18:54 via cbc.ca
  The head of the Environmental Protection Agency says he will sign a new rule overriding the Clean Power Plan, an Obama-era effort to limit carbon emissions from coal-fired power plants.
  
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• Farsighted children struggle with attention, study finds

  09-10-2017 18:40
  Farsighted preschoolers and kindergartners have a harder time paying attention and that could put them at risk of slipping behind in school, a new study suggests.
  
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• A spoonful of oil: Fats and oils help to unlock full nutritional benefits of veggies, study suggests

  09-10-2017 18:40
  Some dressing with your greens may help you absorb more nutrients, according to a new study. The research found enhanced absorption of multiple fat-soluble vitamins in addition to beta-carotene and three other carotenoids. The results may ease the guilt of countless dieters who fret about adding dressing to their salads.
  
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• Novel treatment causes cancer to self-destruct without affecting healthy cells

  09-10-2017 18:39
  Scientists have discovered the first compound that directly makes cancer cells commit suicide while sparing healthy cells. The new treatment approach, described in today’s issue of Cancer Cell, was directed against acute myeloid leukemia (AML) cells but may also have potential for attacking other types of cancers.
  
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• Type 1 diabetes and the microbiota: MAIT cells as biomarkers and new therapeutic targets

  09-10-2017 18:34
  Scientists have discovered that the onset of type 1 diabetes is preceded by modification of MAIT lymphocytes. These cells—associated with mucosae and able to recognize elements of the microbiota—could therefore serve as new biomarkers for early detection and prevention of the illness.
  
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• Blood samples may provide patient radiosensitivity answers

  09-10-2017 18:34
  How much radiation or chemotherapy can a certain person handle? With help from blood or tissue testing, it may be possible to answer this question in advance, which in turn could improve treatment, say researchers.
  
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• The female brain reacts more strongly to prosocial behavior than the male brain, study finds

  09-10-2017 18:32
  Women are more generous than men, behavioral experiments show. Now, researchers have been able to demonstrate that female and male brains process prosocial and selfish behavior differently. For women, prosocial behavior triggers a stronger reward signal, while male reward systems respond more strongly to selfish behavior.
  
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• Solar energy: Prototype shows how tiny photodetectors can double their efficiency

  09-10-2017 18:32
  Physicists have developed a photodetector -- a device that converts light into electrons -- by combining two distinct inorganic materials and producing quantum mechanical processes that could revolutionize the way solar energy is collected. The researchers stacked two atomic layers of tungsten diselenide on a single atomic layer of molybdenum diselenide. Such stacking results in properties vastly different from those of the parent layers, allowing for customized electronic engineering at the tin
  
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• New congenital heart disease genes uncovered

  09-10-2017 18:31
  A new study has helped shed new light on some of the underlying genetic causes of cases of CHD as well as the long-term outlook for patients who carry these mutations.
  
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• Nerve cells' gatekeepers take many forms

  09-10-2017 18:31
  Scientists track the conformations of proteins that stand guard at transmembrane channels in the walls of nerve cells. The research could lead to refined drugs to treat neurological conditions.
  
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• Making fat mice lean: Novel immune cells control neurons responsible for fat breakdown

  09-10-2017 18:31
  The biological causes underlying obesity have been under intense scrutiny with studies suggesting a link between the nervous and the immune systems. Now, in a breakthrough study to be published in Nature Medicine on Oct. 9, a research team led by Ana Domingos, from Instituto Gulbenkian de Ciência, discovered an unforeseen population of immune cells associated with neurons that play a direct role in obesity.
  
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• Durable end to the HIV/AIDS pandemic likely will require an HIV vaccine

  09-10-2017 18:31
  Despite remarkable gains in the treatment and prevention of HIV infection, development of an effective HIV vaccine likely will be necessary to achieve a durable end to the HIV/AIDS pandemic, according to experts.
  
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• Droughts and wildfires: How global warming is drying up the North American monsoon

  09-10-2017 18:31
  Previous researchers had concluded that global warming was simply delaying the North American monsoon, which brings summer rains to the southwestern US and northwestern Mexico. But a new, high-resolution climate model that corrects for persistent sea surface temperature (SST) biases now accurately reflects current rainfall conditions and demonstrates that the monsoon is not simply delayed, but that the region's total rainfall is facing a dramatic reduction.
  
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• What’s that smell? Secrets of famously pungent durian fruit revealed

  09-10-2017 18:20
  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Scientists have answered one of nature’s most pungent questions: what gives the world’s smelliest fruit its distinctive aroma.
  
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• Ancient whale turns up on wrong side of the world

  09-10-2017 18:00
  
  A Southern Hemisphere whale species was briefly a northern resident.
  
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• New study finds widespread presence of pesticide in honey

  09-10-2017 17:00 via cbc.ca
  Researchers found the level of contamination from the neonicotinoid group of pesticides highest in North America.
  
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• Pope to get closer to heavens with call to space station

  09-10-2017 16:37
  VATICAN CITY (Reuters) - Pope Francis will get closer to the heavens this month when he puts in a call to the International Space Station.
  
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• British mission to giant A-68 berg approved

  09-10-2017 15:34 via bbc.co.uk
  UK scientists will take a ship to explore waters exposed by a huge new iceberg in the Antarctic.
  
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• Novel circuit design boosts wearable thermoelectric generators

  09-10-2017 15:33
  Using flexible conducting polymers and novel circuitry patterns printed on paper, researchers have demonstrated proof-of-concept wearable thermoelectric generators that can harvest energy from body heat to power simple biosensors for measuring heart rate, respiration or other factors.
  
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• A new kind of influenza vaccine: One shot might do the trick

  09-10-2017 15:33
  Certain proteins in the influenza virus remain constant year after year. Researchers are taking one of those conserved proteins, Matrix-2 (M2), and packaging it in a nanoscale, controlled-release "capsule" in an attempt to create a quick-acting, long-lasting, multi-strain vaccine against pandemic influenza A.
  
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• Surgery: Sticking instead of stitching

  09-10-2017 15:32
  In spite of medical advances, wound-related complications arising after operations can still be life-threatening. In order to avoid these complications in the future, a new nanoparticle-based tissue glue has been developed by researchers at Empa.
  
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• Molecular basis for memory and learning: Brain development and plasticity share similar signalling pathways

  09-10-2017 15:32
  Learning and memory are two important functions of the brain that are based on the brain’s plasticity. Scientists now report on how a trio of key molecules directs these processes. Their findings provide new leads for the therapy of Alzheimer’s disease.
  
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• E-cigarettes should be promoted as a method of stopping smoking

  09-10-2017 15:32
  E-cigarettes should be promoted as a method of stopping smoking according to a new report.
  
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• Disease-carrying mosquitoes abound in deforested lands

  09-10-2017 15:32
  UF scientists synthesized and examined data from prior studies that had looked at how many pathogen-carrying mosquito species made their homes in forested lands vs. non-forested lands in 12 countries worldwide, including the United States.
  
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• A safe optical fiber for delivering light and drugs into the body

  09-10-2017 15:32
  An electrical engineer and a biomaterials engineer have joined their expertise to develop a flexible, biodegradable optical fiber to deliver light into the body for medical applications.
  
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• The risk of type 1 diabetes not increased by swine flu vaccine Pandemrix

  09-10-2017 15:29
  There has been a fear that the swine flu vaccine, Pandemrix, would increase the risk of autoimmune diseases other than narcolepsy. However, a new study of children from Sweden and Finland shows that the vaccine increased neither the risk of developing autoantibodies against insulin-producing beta cells nor the occurrence of type 1 diabetes.
  
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• Safe to treat dementia patients with clot-busting drugs, study shows

  09-10-2017 15:29
  Stroke patients with dementia treated with intravenous thrombolysis using powerful clot-busting drugs are at no higher risk of brain haemorrhage or death than other patients receiving the same treatment, a new study reports.
  
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• Official fish trade 'hugely underestimates' global catches

  09-10-2017 15:29
  Conservation of dwindling fish stocks is being severely hampered by poor controls on global trade, according to new research.
  
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• Establishing a conservation breeding program to save the last saola

  09-10-2017 15:29
  The saola (Pseudoryx nghetinhensis), a primitive wild cattle endemic to the Annamite mountain range in Vietnam and Lao People’s Democratic Republic (PDR), is in immediate danger of extinction. The primary threat to its survival is intensive commercial snaring to supply the thriving wild meat trade in Indochina. In order to save the saola it is essential to establish a conservation breeding program.
  
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• Digital services collect unnecessary personal information

  09-10-2017 15:29
  Digital services that require users to log in with a personal account often collect more information about users than is needed. Certain policies may encroach on our privacy.
  
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• Yarmouth businessman creates 'Mercedes of lobster traps'

  09-10-2017 15:00 via cbc.ca
  Lobster fishing gear has not really changed in almost half a century, says the owner of The Lobster Trap Company.
  
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• Human minibrains reveal effects of psychedelic substance

  09-10-2017 14:44
  Scientists have identified changes in signaling pathways associated with neural plasticity, inflammation and neurodegeneration triggered by a compound from the family of dimethyltryptamine known as 5-MeO-DMT.
  
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• Sustainable irrigation may harm other development goals

  09-10-2017 14:43
  Pursuing sustainable irrigation without significant irrigation efficiency gains could negatively impact environmental and development goals in many areas of the world, a new study has found.
  
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• Reported penicillin allergy appears to increase the risk of surgical site infections

  09-10-2017 14:43
  Investigators found that surgical patients believed to be allergic to penicillin were significantly more likely to develop surgical site infections than were patients with no documented allergy, a difference totally attributable to the alternative antibiotics used to prevent such infections.
  
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• How brain cells die in Alzheimer's and FTD

  09-10-2017 14:43
  Removal of a regulatory gene called LSD1 in adult mice induces changes in gene activity that that look unexpectedly like Alzheimer's. Another surprise: LSD1 is tangled up in brain samples from humans with Alzheimer's and frontotemporal dementia (FTD), suggesting LSD1 as a central downstream player in these diseases and a drug target.
  
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• Fruit fly muscles with a hypertrophic cardiomyopathy mutation don't relax properly

  09-10-2017 14:43
  Using fruit flies, researchers have figured out why a particular inherited human heart condition that is almost always due to genetic mutations causes the heart to enlarge, thicken and fail. They found that one such mutation interferes with heart muscle's ability to relax after contracting, and prevents the heart from fully filling with blood and pumping it out.
  
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• Double mastectomy tied to more missed work

  09-10-2017 14:43
  As more breast cancer patients are choosing to remove both breasts, researchers examine the impact this aggressive surgery has on their employment.
  
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• Superbugs may meet their match in these nanoparticles

  09-10-2017 13:00
  
  Quantum dots and antibiotics hit bacteria with a one-two punch.
  
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• Jane Goodall, Still Traveling the World and Speaking Up for Animals at 83

  09-10-2017 12:45 via rss.sciam.com
  The famed primatologist talks about her past work, her environmental concerns and the importance of conservation
  -- Read more on ScientificAmerican.com
  
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• Watch out! Brain network calculates impact of approaching object

  09-10-2017 06:00
  (Society for Neuroscience) A neuroimaging study of two monkeys published in JNeurosci identifies a brain network that tracks the location of an object approaching the face and anticipates its potential consequences upon making contact with the body.
  
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